The Cremation Of Sam Mcgee Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDEFF GGHH IIFF JJKL MMNN IIFF AAONN PPQQ JJRR OOSS TTFF JJUU VVWW XXSS ABCBDFFF

There are strange things done in the midnight sunA
By the men who moil for goldB
The Arctic trails have their secret talesC
That would make your blood run coldB
The Northern Lights have seen queer sightsD
But the queerest they ever did seeE
Was that night on the marge of Lake LebargeF
I cremated Sam McGeeF
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Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee where the cotton blooms and blowsG
Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole God only knowsG
He was always cold but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spellH
Though he'd often say in his homely way that he'd sooner live in hellH
-
On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trailI
Talk of your cold through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nailI
If our eyes we'd close then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't seeF
It wasn't much fun but the only one to whimper was Sam McGeeF
-
And that very night as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snowJ
And the dogs were fed and the stars o'erhead were dancing heel and toeJ
He turned to me and Cap says he I'll cash in this trip I guessK
And if I do I'm asking that you won't refuse my last requestL
-
Well he seemed so low that I couldn't say no then he says with a sort of moanM
It's the cursed cold and it's got right hold till I'm chilled clean through to the boneM
Yet 'tain't being dead it's my awful dread of the icy grave that painsN
So I want you to swear that foul or fair you'll cremate my last remainsN
-
A pal's last need is a thing to heed so I swore I would not failI
And we started on at the streak of dawn but God he looked ghastly paleI
He crouched on the sleigh and he raved all day of his home in TennesseeF
And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGeeF
-
There wasn't a breath in that land of death and I hurried horror drivenA
With a corpse half hid that I couldn't get rid because of a promise givenA
It was lashed to the sleigh and it seemed to sayO
You may tax your brawn and brainsN
But you promised true and it's up to you to cremate those last remainsN
-
Now a promise made is a debt unpaid and the trail has its own stern codeP
In the days to come though my lips were dumb in my heart how I cursed that loadP
In the long long night by the lone firelight while the huskies round in a ringQ
Howled out their woes to the homeless snows O God how I loathed the thingQ
-
And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavy and heavier growJ
And on I went though the dogs were spent and the grub was getting lowJ
The trail was bad and I felt half mad but I swore I would not give inR
And I'd often sing to the hateful thing and it hearkened with a grinR
-
Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge and a derelict there layO
It was jammed in the ice but I saw in a trice it was called the Alice MayO
And I looked at it and I thought a bit and I looked at my frozen chumS
Then Here said I with a sudden cry is my cre ma tor eumS
-
Some planks I tore from the cabin floor and I lit the boiler fireT
Some coal I found that was lying around and I heaped the fuel higherT
The flames just soared and the furnace roared such a blaze you seldom seeF
And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal and I stuffed in Sam McGeeF
-
Then I made a hike for I didn't like to hear him sizzle soJ
And the heavens scowled and the huskies howled and the wind began to blowJ
It was icy cold but the hot sweat rolled down my cheeks and I don't know whyU
And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak went streaking down the skyU
-
I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fearV
But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured nearV
I was sick with dread but I bravely said I'll just take a peep insideW
I guess he's cooked and it's time I looked then the door I opened wideW
-
And there sat Sam looking cool and calm in the heart of the furnace roarX
And he wore a smile you could see a mile and he said Please close that doorX
It's fine in here but I greatly fear you'll let in the cold and stormS
Since I left Plumtree down in Tennessee it's the first time I've been warmS
-
There are strange things done in the midnight sunA
By the men who moil for goldB
The Arctic trails have their secret talesC
That would make your blood run coldB
The Northern Lights have seen queer sightsD
But the queerest they ever did seeF
Was that night on the marge of Lake LebargeF
I cremated Sam McGeeF

Robert Service



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